9.4: Virtual machines

See also 9.3 Emulators

Introduction

Virtual machine applications are a class of programs that simulate a "virtual computer" in memory, allowing you to install any operating
system on the machine. It is useful for testing, running non-native applications, and providing users the feeling of having a machine of
their own. Many MEPIS Linux users make use of virtual machine software to run Microsoft Windows “in a window” to seamlessly
provide access to software written for Windows on their desktop. It is also used for testing to avoid installation.

Applications

Many virtual machine software applications for MEPIS Linux 7.0 exist, both open-source and proprietary. Here are three of the most
common:

VMWare -- open-source desktop virtualization software for software developers/testers and enterprise IT professionals that runs multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single PC.

VirtualBox -- an open-source general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware that can run virtual machines remotely.

Parallels Workstation -- non-free hardware emulation virtualization software for any user that maps the host computer's
hardware directly to each virtual PC so that each virtual machine operates just like a stand-alone computer.